The most recent SpaceX launch was the 19th Dragon Spacecraft mission to the International Space Station, or ISS. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:29 PM EST on December 5, 2019. It carried 5,200 pounds of valuable supplies. The next SpaceX launch is scheduled for December 18, 2019.

Upcoming SpaceX Launches

SpaceX has achieved 77 successful rocket launches, and it has no intention of slowing down. The upcoming launch schedule is packed. 

• December 18, 2019 - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying a JCSAT 18/Kacific 1 communications satellite 
• December 2019 - A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 satellites for the Starlink 2 mission will launch from Cape Canaveral
• January 2020 - A SpaceX launch to deliver the third navigational satellite for the Global Positioning System, GPS, on behalf of the U.S. Air Force 
• February 2020 - A Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral carrying the SAOCOM 1 B Earth observation satellite for Argentina
• March 1, 2020 - The launch of the 20th Dragon CRS resupply mission to the ISS 
• May 2020 - A SpaceX launch carrying the fourth GPS satellite

The Success of SpaceX Reusable Rockets

The price tag is a significant challenge for space exploration. Space programs worldwide were limited by the enormous cost of rockets that could only be used once. 

SpaceX announced its program to create reusable rockets in 2011. Elon Musk ran from the control station to watch the first successful landing and recovery of a rocket with his own eyes in 2015.  

A recovered launch vehicle was reused for the first time in March of 2017, and recovered vehicles were on their third flights by 2018. Recovered rockets and launch vehicles are now used routinely. 

Goals of Planned SpaceX Launches

The current schedule of SpaceX launches has a variety of goals. Supply missions to the ISS carry a wide range of items, including Budweiser's contribution of equipment to brew beer. Falcon 9 rockets bring materials from the ISS back to earth as well. Results of research on the space station are further analyzed and recorded on earth. 

Starlink missions place low-earth orbit satellites intended for a satellite-broadband service in the United States. SpaceX plans to offer high-speed broadband access at a lower cost than anything currently available. The rockets also carry equipment for global projects and satellite networks intended for military use. 

SpaceX may not be ready to colonize Mars, but it is certainly keeping itself busy in the meantime. Elon Musk and his team believe that routine two-way space travel will eventually pay for itself.

Musk and SpaceX want to give private citizens access to space travel. The remarkable technological feats SpaceX has achieved in recent years offer hope that their ambitious goals will soon be realized.